Thor star Chris Hemsworth flees film set after flash floods and mudslides kill five

Chris Hemsworth had to be evacuated from his film set after flash floods hit the area (Picture: Reuters)

Chris Hemsworth narrowly escaped with his life after flash floods and mudslides killed five people and disrupted the filming of his new movie in the Canary Islands.

The Thor actor, who’s shooting In the Heart of the Sea with director Ron Howard on the Spanish archipelago, had to abandon his La Gomera set under emergency orders from local authorities when the deadly storm struck.

Howard shared the ordeal on his Twitter page, keeping followers up to date as he and the rest of the film’s crew fled the scene.

‘Rare heavy rain in La Gomera forced us to our small converted cover stage… Then our access road began to flood… Soon we were advised to wrap and evacuate. Pronto. Asap,’ he tweeted, along with a photo of torrents of mud.

Adding: ‘Incident trucks moved to hi ground & all cast & crew waded to cars (calf deep) & made it out b-4 roads closed… Good luck that no cars or people were swept away or hit by tumbling rocks. All’s well that ends well.’

Despite the lucky escape in La Gomera, five people died when an intense storm caused flash floods on the island of Tenerife, 25 miles away. The deluge cut all power and left hundreds homeless.

Howard’s partner at Imagine Entertainment, Brian Grazer, added: ‘There was a near-typhoon, which is very rare for that area. Ron had to shut down the production and get everyone out of there. Thankfully, none of the cast or crew were hurt. Production has been put on hold.’

It is the second major mishap to strike the Hollywood movie after a boat carrying Hemsworth and his family, as well as a number of production employees, ran aground off the coast of La Gomera last month. The passengers were rescued by local coastguards.